Why Not Eat Insects

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WHY NOT EAT INSECTS?
WHY
NOT
EAT
INSECTS?
BY
VINCENT
M.
HOLT.
" Them insecs eats up every blessed green thing that do grow,
and us farmers starves."
" Well, eat them, and grow fat ! *'
Field
LONDON:
Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, E. C.
Simpkin, Marshall 6 Co. ; Hamilton, Adams c*> Co.
FIELD & TVER,

THE LEADENHALL PRESS, E.C
(T. 4,239')
7 JUL R5
*9>
PREFACE.
In entering upon this work I

am fully conscious of the diffi
culty
of
battling
against
long-existing and deep-rooted

public prejudice.
only ask
of my readers a fair hearing,

an
my
impartial consideration
arguments,
and
biassed judgment.
an
of
un
If these be
granted, I feel sure that many

will
be
practical
persuaded
to
proof
the expe-
of
make
diency
Preface.
diency
of
using
insects
food.
There are insects and
insects. e My insects
are
as
all
vegetable feeders, clean, palat

able, wholesome, and decidedly
more particular in their feed
ing than ourselves.
am
confident
that
While I
they
will
never condescend to eat us, I

am equally confident that, on
finding out how good they are,
we shall some day right gladly
cook and eat them.
CONTENTS.
PART
I.
II.
III.
Why not? ...
...
...
FAGE
9
Insect Eaters
...
...
32
Insects that are Good to Eat,

and Something about their
Cooking ...
...
...
48
WHY NOT EAT INSECTS ?
PART
I.
WHY NOT ?
" These ye may eat ; the locust after his
kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and
the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper
after his kind."Lev. xi. 22.
Why not eat insects ? Why not,
indeed I What are the objections
that can be brought
insects
as
" insects "

creatures
mollusks
food ?
In
forward
the word
I here include
such as some
and
crustaceans
9
to
other
small
which,
though
Why not eat Insects ?
though
not
technically
coming
under the head of insects, still may

be so called for the sake of brevity
and convenience. " Ugh ! I would
not
touch
the loathsome
things,
much less eat one ! " is the reply.

But why on
creatures
be
earth
should
called
these
loathsome,
which, as a matter of fact, are not

loathsome in any way, and, indeed,
are in every way more fitted for
human food than many of the socalled delicacies now highly prized ?
From chemical analysis it appears
that the flesh of insects is composed
of the
same
substances
as
are
found in that of the higher animals.

Again, if we look at the food they
themselves live upon, which is one
ip
of
Why not ?
of the commonest criterions as to

whether an animal is, or is not, fit
for human food, we find that the
great
majority
of
insects
live
entirely upon vegetable matter in

one form or another ; and, in fact,
all those I shall hereafter propose
to my readers as food are strict
vegetarians. Carnivorous animals,
such as the dog, cat, fox, etc., are
held unworthy of the questionable
dignity of being edible by civilized
man. In the same manner I shall
not ask my readers to consider for
a moment the propriety or advisa
bility of tasting such unclean-feed
ing insects as the common fly, the
carrion beetle, or Blaps mortisaga
(the churchyard beetle). But how
11
can
Why not eat Insects f
can any one who has ever gulped

down the luscious oyster alive at
three-and-sixpence per dozen, turn
up his nose and shudder at the
clean-feeding and less repulsivelooking snail ?
The lobster, a
creature consumed in incredible
quantities at all the highest tables
in the land, is such a foul feeder
that, for its sure capture, the ex
perienced fisherman will bait his
lobster-pot with putrid flesh or fish
which is too far gone even to
attract a crab. And yet, if at one
of those tables there appeared a
well-cooked dish of clean-feeding
slugs, the hardiest of the guests
would
shrink
.from
tasting
it.
Again, the eel is universally eaten,

12
fried,
Why not ?
fried, stewed, or in pies, though it

is the very scavenger of the water
there being no filth it will not
swallowlike its
equally relished
fellow-scavenger the pig, the " un

clean animal " of Scripture. There
was once an equally strong objec
tion to the pig, as there is at present
against insects.
What would the
poor do without the bacon-pig now ?

It is hard, very hard, to overcome
the feelings that have been instilled
into us from our youth upwards ;
but still I foresee the day when the
slug will be as popular in England
as its luscious namesake the Trepang, or sea-slug, is in China, and
a dish of grasshoppers fried in
butter
as much
relished by the
13
English
English
peasant as
similarly-
treated dish of locusts is by an

Arab
or
Hottentot.
There are
many reasons why this is to be

hoped for. Firstly, philosophy bids
us neglect no wholesome source of
food.
Secondly, what a pleasant
change from the labourer's unvary

ing meal of bread, lard, and bacon,
or bread and lard without bacon, or
bread without lard or bacon, would
be a good dish of fried cockchafers
or grasshoppers.
" How the poor
live ! " Badly, I know ; but they

neglect wholesome foods, from a
foolish prejudice which it should be
the task of their betters, by their
example, to overcome.
One of the
constant questions of the day is,

14
How
Why not ?
How can the farmer most success

fully battle
with
the
insect
de-
vourers of his crops ?

I suggest
that these insect devourers should
be collected by the poor as food.
Why not ?
pretend that
upon insects
they might
I do not mean to
the poor could live
; but I do say that
thus pleasantly and
wholesomely vary their present diet

while, at the same time, conferring
a great benefit upon the agricultural
world. Not only would their chil
dren then be rewarded by the
farmers for hand-picking the de
structive insects, but they would
be doubly rewarded by partaking of
toothsome and nourishing insect
dishes at home.
15
After
After all, there is not such a very

strong prejudice among the poorer
classes against the swallowing of
insects, as is shown by the survival
in some
fashioned
districts of such oldmedicines as wood-lice
pills, and snails and slugs as a cure

for consumption.
I myself also
knew a labourer, some years ago,
in the west of England, who was
regularly in the habit of picking
up and eating any small white slugs
which he happened to see, as tid
bits, just as he would have picked
wild strawberries.
It may require a strong effort of
will to reason ourselves out of the
stupid prejudices that have stood in
our way for ages ; but what is the
16
good
Why not?
good of the advanced state of the

times if we cannot thus cast aside
these prejudices, just as we have
caused to vanish before the everadvancing tide of knowledge the
worn-out theories of spontaneous
generation and barnacle geese ?
Cheese-mites,
the
grubs
of
small fly, are freely eaten by many

persons, whom I have often heard
say " they are only cheese." There
is certainly some ground for this
assertion, as these grubs live entirely
upon cheese ; but what would one
of these epicures say if I served
up to him a cabbage boiled with
its own grubs ? Yet my argument
that
"they
would be
c
are
only
cabbage"
fully as good as his.

17
As
Why not eat Insects 9
As a matter of fact, I see every

reason why
cabbages
should be
thus served up, surrounded with

a delicately flavoured fringe of the
caterpillars which feed upon them.
As
things
are
now, the
caterpillar which, having
chance
escaped
the careful eye of the scullery-maid,

is boiled among the close folds of
the cabbage, quite spoils the dinner
appetite of the person who happens
to receive it with his helping of
vegetable, and
its
loathsome (?)
form is carefully hidden at the side

of his plate or sent straight out of
the room, so that its unwonted
presence may no further nauseate
the
diners.
Yet
probably these
same diners have, at the commence18
ment
Why not?
ment of the meal, hailed with inward

satisfaction the presence on the
board of dozens of much more
loathsome-looking oysters, and have
actually swallowed perhaps a dozen
of them raw and living as quite
an appetizer for their dinner ! At
a table of gourmands, he who by
chance
thus gets the well-boiled
larva served up in its own natural,

clean food should, instead of being
pitied for having his dinner spoilt,
be, on the contrary, almost an object
of envy, as he who gets the liverwing.
I am quite aware of the
horror with which this opinion will

be read by many at first sight, but
when it is carefully thought over
I fail to see that any one capable
19
of
of correct reasoning can deny its

practical truth, even if he himself,
though a frequent swallower of the
raw oyster and a relisher of the
scavenging lobster, continues to
turn up his delicate nose at my
suggestion to put it to a practical
proof.
The general abhorrence of insects
seems almost to have increased of
late years, rather than diminished,
owing, no doubt, to the
fact
of
their being no longer familiar as

medicines.
At one time the fact
of their being prescribed as remedies

by village quacks and wise men
made people, at any rate, familiar
with the idea of swallowing them.
Wood-lice, which conveniently roll
20
themselves
Why not ?
themselves up into the semblance

of black pills, were taken as an
aperient ;
centipedes were an in
valuable specific for jaundice ; cock

chafers for the plague ; ladybirds
for colic and measles. The advanCtf
of medical science and the sup
pression of wise folk have swept
away this belief in the medicinal
qualities of insects, except from outof-the-way country corners, where a
stray wise woman occasionally holds
a divided sway with the parish
doctor. As these theories die away,
why should not the useful practice
of using insects as food be intro
duced with advantage ? From time
to time letters appear in the papers
inquiring as to the best method of
21
getting
getting rid of such insect pests as

the wireworm, leather-jacket, chafergrub, etc., and I have seen one
method especially recommended.
This is to set traps for the insect
vermin by burying slices of turnip
or potato stuck upon the ends of
small sticks, whose other ends
project from the ground to mark
the spot. The slices, in the morn
ing, will be covered with the mis
chievous
ravagers,
which,
one
answer went on to say, " may then

be dealt with at pleasure." -I say,
then, collect them for the table.
Man will often, in his universal
selfishness, take the trouble to do
acts, if they directly affect him or
his stomach, which he would not
22
do
Why not ?
do for their mere utility; and if

these wireworms, etc., were esteemed
as articles of food, there would be
a double incentive to the gathering
of them. We have only to glance
through the pages of Miss Eleanor
Ormerod's excellent work on " In
jurious Insects " to see what a power
for harm lies in the myriads of the
insect world, even if we do not
know it from sad personal expe
rience.
There cannot be said to be any
really strong objection, among the
upper classes, to making any new
departure in the direction of foods,
if it once becomes the fashion to do
so. On page 25 is the menu of a
dinner at the Chinese Restaurant at
23
the
the late Health Exhibition, whose

quaint delicacies were eaten and
well appreciated by crowds of
fashionable people, who turn up
their noses at the neglected supply
of new delicacies at home.
Let us look into some of the
items which these professedly most
refined eaters partook of with relish
though it is only fair to state that
some of the ladies could not suffi
ciently overcome their prejudices to
enjoy their meal.
The " Bird's Nest Soup " was, I
believe, universally appreciated, and,
personally, I thought that it was
perhaps the most delicious soup I
had ever tasted.
Yet, from what is
it made, ye dainty feeders ?

24
The
nest
Why not?
CHINESE RESTAURANT.
Menu, ii Sept., 1884.
Hors D'ceuvre.
Pullulas a l'Huile. Saucisson de Frankfort.
Olives.
Bird's Nest Soup.
Visigo a la Tortue.
Souchee de Turbot au Varech Violet.
Biche de Mer a la Matelote Chinoise.
Shaohsing Wina
Petit Caisse a la Marquis Tsing.
Roulade de Pigeon farcie au Pistache.
Copeau de Veau k la Jardiniere au Muscus.
Sharks' Fins a la Bagration.
Boule de Riz.
Shaohsing Wine.
Noisettes de Lotus a l'Olea Fragrance.
Pommes pralinee.
Compote de Leechee.
Persdeaux Salade Romain.
Vermicelli Chinoise a la Milanaise.
Beignet Souffle a la Vanille.
Gelee aux Fruits.
Biscuit Glace aux Amande pralinee.
Glace a la Creme de Cafe\
Dessert.
Persimmons, Pommes Confit, Peches,
Amands Vert, Grapes.
The Imperial.
25
nest of a small swallow, constructed

by that bird principally by the means
of threads of a viscid fluid secreted
from its mouth.
Does not that
sound nasty enough ? Yet what
excellent soup is made therefrom,
being not only delicious to the
taste, but said also to possess great
strengthening qualities, and to be
an excellent specific for indigestion.
The annual value of these nests
imported into China and Japan
exceeds
,200,000.
Surely, con
sidering the general approbation

expressed of this soup at the
Health Exhibition, it would pay
some enterprising London merchant
to import nests into England.
The " Visigo a la Tortue " was
26
also
Why not?
also an excellent soup, a kind of

imitation
turtle,
made
from
the
octopus or cuttle-fish. The cuttle

fish ! Go to any aquarium ; look on
those hideous creatures and tell me,
are not they loathsome ?
look nice to eat ?
Do they
" Biche de Mer a la Matelote

Chinoise."This was
the dish
which frightened the more delicate
ladies.
Why ?
Merely because
its common English name is the

" sea slug."
There cannot be a
particle of doubt that, if it had
always
previously
been
known
only by its less common name of

sea cucumber or Trepang, it would
have been refused by none. What's
in a name ? The Trepang by any
27
other
other name would taste as sweet!

Those who partook of this dish all
pronounced it to be excellent eating,
although
its
ingredients
did
re
semble in looks pieces of old shoe

leather or large black slugs. Not
that there could be any valid objec
tion if it actually were made of
either. Half the delicious calves'
foot jelly in the world is made from
old parchment and leather clippings,
and slugs are no worse than oysters.
We have thus recently had an
opportunity of tasting some of the
varieties of a usual Chinese menu,
and our verdict upon them was
proved to be favourable by "the
Chinese dinner at the Healtheries "
becoming one of the fashionable
28
entertainments
Why not?
entertainments
There one
of
had
the
season.
opportunities
of
watching, with wonder, the most

refined ladies and gentlemen, in
correct
evening
costume,
sitting
down to partake of a dinner, whose

most attractive items, as shown in
the menu, were such objects as bird's
nest soup, cuttle-fish, sea slugs, and
shark's fins, for no other reason
than that it was the fashion to do
so.
I will venture to say that if it
had been previously suggested to
those people to have such items
included in the menu at a country
house, they would have expressed
disgust at the idea. Fashion is the
most powerful motive in the world.
Why does not some one in a high
29
place
place set the common-sense fashion

of adding
tables ?
insect
dishes
to
our
The flock would not be
long in following.
After eating of those unaccus
tomed dishes at the Health Exhi
bition, and discovering how good
they were, is it not a wonder that
people do not look around them
for the many new gastronomic trea
sures lying neglected at their feet ?
Prejudice, prejudice, thy strength is
enormous ! People will dilate upon
the delicate flavour of one fungus,
under the name of mushroom, while
they stamp upon, or cast from them,
the disappointing young puff-ball
and a dozen other common kinds of
fungi, all equally nice and whole30
some,
Why not?
some, if people would only recog

nize it, as the one they gloat over.
People will, in like manner, enjoy
oysters
and
cockles, while
abominate snails ;
they
they will make
themselves ill with indigestible and

foul-feeding lobsters while they
look with horror upon pretty cleanfeeding caterpillars. All this would
not be so absurd if it were only
the rich that were concerned, for
they can afford to be dainty. But
while we, in these days of agricul
tural depression, do all we can to
alleviate the sufferings of our starv
ing labourers, ought we not to
exert our influence towards point
ing out to them a neglected food
supply ?
31
Part II.
If
PART II.
INSECT-EATERS.
From almost every part
of
the
inhabited globe instances and ex

amples can be brought of the eat
ing of insects, both in ancient and
modern times, by people of every
colour and nation.
If I bring for
ward examples from ancient times,

or from among those nations, in
modern times, which are called
uncivilized, I foresee that I shall
be met with the argument, "Why
should we imitate these uncivilized
32
races?"
Insect-Eaters.
races ? " But upon examination it

will be found that, though uncivil
lized, most of
these peoples are
more particular as to the fitness

of their food than we are, and look
on us with far greater horror for
using, as food, the unclean pig or
the raw oyster, than we do upon
them for relishing a properly cooked
dish
of clean-feeding
palm-grubs.
locusts or
If we are to imitate
in nothing these savage races, how

is it that from their example we
cultivate the priceless Peruvian
bark or quinine ; that we, rich and
poor alike, feed daily on the im
ported potato ; that we delight in
curry ; and that our men, each at
first struggling against his natural
r>
33
aversion
aversion
and
sickness,
accustom
themselves by force of will to the

soothing influence of the noxious
weed, tobacco ?
Beginning with the earliest times,
one can produce examples of insecteating at every period down to our
own age. Speaking to the people
of Israel, at Lev. xi. 22, Moses
directly
encourages
them
to eat
clean-feeding insects : " These ye

may eat, the locust after his kind,
and the bald locust after his kind,
and the beetle after his kind, and
the grasshopper after his kind."
Again, John the Baptist is recorded
to have lived in the desert upon
locusts
and wild
critics, however,
honey.
Some
apparently
34
con-
sidering
Insect-Eaters.
sidering
and
locusts
ignorant
unnatural
of how
food,
they
are
relished in the East, have gone out

of their way to produce long argu
ments to prove that the word which
has been translated "locusts" ought
to have been rendered as the name
of a species of cassia-pod. This is
not so. Almost every traveller of
note has given us an account of
how the
Eastern
these insects.
fact that
much
nations
enjoy
Pliny records the
in
his
day they were
eaten
by
the
Herodotus
adopted
by
describes
the
Parthians.
the
mode
Nasamones
of
powdering locusts for the purpose

of baking them into cakes.
The
Hottentots,
35
according
to
Sparrman,
Sparrman, welcome the locusts as a

godsend, although the whole country
is devastated, for it is literally a case
of the biter bit; and these locusteaters grow round and
fat from
the incredible quantities they de

vour of their nutritious and appe
tizing persecutors.
Cooked
in
many and various ways, locusts are
eaten in the Crimea, Arabia, Persia,
Madagascar,
Africa,
and
India.
Sometimes they are merely fried,

their legs and wings plucked off,
and the' bodies eaten, flavoured
with pepper and salt. At others
they are powdered and baked into
cakes ; or, again, they are boiled,
turning red, like lobsters, in the
process.
In India, like every other

36
article
Insect-Eaters.
article of food, they are curried.*

In Arabia,
Africa
Persia, and
there
are
parts of
regular
locust
shops where they are exposed for

sale ; and among the Moors they
are highly valued, appearing in the
7iienu at the best
tables.
Their
method of cooking is to pluck off

the head, wings, and legs, boil for
half an hour, flavour with pepper
and salt, and fry in butter.
As I
can myself bear witness, of which

more hereafter, this recipe applied
to our English grasshoppers ren
ders that despised insect a truly
* It has been cleverly suggested by Simmonds, in his "Curiosities of Food," that
their very name, Gryllus, is in itself an invita
tion to cook them.
37
tasty
tasty morsel.
Homer,
theme
the
From the time of

Cicadce
of every
regard
to
both
formed the
Greek
poet, in
tunefulness
and
delicate flavour.
Aristotle tells us
that
polished
the
most
of the
Greeks enjoyed them, considering

the pupe, or chrysalids, the greatest
tid-bits, and after them the females
heavy with their burden of eggs.
Why thjs taste should have died
out in modern Greece one cannot
tell, for it is much more wholesome
than many which have been assidu
ously perpetuated. Cicadce are eaten
at the present day by the American
Indians
and
by
the
natives
of
Australia.
According to Pliny, the Roman
38
epicures
Insect-Eaters.
epicures were in the habit of fatten

ing for the table the larvae of the
Cossus, with flour and wine.
It is
somewhat doubtful as to the exact

identity of the insect represented
by the word Cossus; but it was
probably the
large
grub
of the
Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus) or a

large
Longicorn
corioranus).
Beetle (Prionus
The epicure of Rome
was most dainty and discriminating

in his food. Why, then, should we
turn up our noses at what he con
sidered as a great delicacy ?
/Elian tells us that in his time
an Indian king served up, for his
Greek guests, as dessert, a dish of
roasted grubs, extracted from some
tree or plant, which were considered
39
by
by
the
natives
great
treat.
There is very little doubt that these

were the larvae of the palm weevil
(Calandra palmarum), huge grubs
as large as a man's thumb, which
are, at the present day, extracted
from the palm trees and eaten with
great relish by the negroes in the
West Indies under
Grugru.
Kirby
in
the name of
his
" Ento
mology" says that a certain Sir

John La Forey, who was somewhat
an epicure, was extremely partial to
this grub when properly cooked.
The family of Longicorn Beetles
affords a rich store of luscious
larvae, which are sought and eaten
by the inhabitants of most countries
where they are to be found in any
40
abundance.
Insect-Eaters.
abundance.
As I mentioned be
fore, it is considered by some to
have been a member of this family
(Prionus corioranus) that was fed
up by the Romans for the table
with all the care that is nowadays
bestowed upon a prize pig. One
of this tribe is also mentioned by
Madame Merian as being eaten by
both the native and white in
habitants of Surinam, who serve
them up nicely roasted after being
emptied and washed.
In St. Pierre's
voyages also, this, or some similar

insect,
is
mentioned,
under
the
name of the Moutac grub, as being

eaten by whites and natives alike.
In Java there is a species of Cock
chafer
(Melolontha
41
hypoleuca)
to
which
which Wiedemann has drawn atten

tion, as forming food for the in
habitants.
The last instance from
among the Coleoptera I will bring

forward
is
the well-known meal
worm, the larvae of a small beetle

(Tenebrio), which Turkish women
eat in large quantities for the pur
pose of acquiring that plumpness of
form their lords so much admire.
The Chinese, making use of "the
worm, a thing that crept on the
bare earth, then wrought a tomb
and slept" as food, eat the chrysalids.
of the silkworms after the silk has
been wound from off the cocoons.
They fry them in butter or lardr
add yolk of eggs, and season with
pepper, salt, and vinegar. A certain
42
Mr.
Insect-Eaters.
Mr. Favand, a Chinese missionary,

says that he found this food re
freshing and strengthening.
Dr.
Darwin, also, in his " Phytologia,"
mentions this dish, and says that a
white earth grub and the larvai of
the sphinx moths are also eaten,
which latter he tried, and found to
be delicious.
The Hottentots eat
caterpillars, both cooked and raw,

collecting and carrying them in
large calabashes to their homes,
where they fry them in iron pots
over a gentle fire, stirring them
about the while. They eat them,
cooked thus, in handfuls, without
any flavouring or sauce. A traveller
who on several occasions tried this
dish, tells us that he thought it
43
delicate
delicate, nourishing, and wholesome,

resembling in taste sugared cream
or sweet almond paste.
Passing now from the strictly
insect world, I come to some com
mon land mollusks, which have
formed, and indeed form at the
present time, food for many nations
as cultivated as ourselves, but which
we, strong in insular prejudice, still
refuse.
Pliny tells us how snails
were appreciated in Ancient Rome,

and were cultivated and fed to in
crease their number and size for
the table.
It is almost too well
known to need mention, that in

most parts of Europe at the present
time snails are
and enjoyed.
extensively eaten
No precedent ought,
44
surely,
Insect-Eaters.
surely, to be needed for the adoption

of snails as food, when we copy
and justly appreciate in almost
every other particular the cookery
of France. Still, if English stub
born natures wish for a precedent
from their own beloved island they
can
have
it,
for
Lister,
in
his
"Historia Animalium Anglican," says

that in his time snails were served
up at table, boiled in spring-water,
and seasoned with oil, pepper, and
salt.
Even Spiders have been relished
as tid-bits, not only by uncivilized
nations, but by Europeans of culti
vation.
For Reaumur tells of a
young lady who was so fond of
spiders
that
she
45
never saw one

without
without
catching
and
eating
it.
Lalande, the
French astronomer,
had
tastes ;
similar
and
Rosel
speaks of a German who was in

the habit of spreading spiders, like
butter, upon his bread.
This taste
I do not in any way uphold, for the

preying spider, which devours his
fellow-insects, whether foul feeders
or no, should be avoided, as are
carnivorous
beasts in our animal
diet.
I think that I have now produced
a sufficient number of precedents
for the eating of insects, both in
ancient and modern times, by
nations
civilized and
These ought to be
incite
any
person
46
uncivilized.
sufficient to
of
ordinary
strength
Insect-Eaters.
strength of mind to try for himself

the unknown delicacies around him.
We pride ourselves upon our imi
tation of the Greeks and Romans
in their arts ; we treasure their dead
languages : why not, then, take a
useful hint from their tables ?
We
imitate the savage nations in their

use of numberless drugs, spices, and
condiments : why not go a step
further ?
47
Part III.
PART HI.
INSECTS
AND
THAT ARE GOOD TO EAT ;

SOMETHING
ABOUT
THEIR
COOKING.
We have seen that, from the time
of Moses down to the present day,
various members of the insect
family
of
cludes
the
Orthoptera,
locusts,
which
crickets,
in
and
grasshoppers, have been and are

eaten and appreciated in many
parts of the world. Now let us
look at home, and consider why
we should not do likewise, adding
to our tables that clean meat, " the
48
grasshopper
Insects that are Good to Eat.
grasshopper after his kind."
We
are not without precedent.
The
example of the Church has backed

up the written permission of the
Bible.
The Rev.
R. Sheppard,
many years ago, had some of our

common large grasshoppers served
up at his table, according to the
recipe used by the inhabitants of
Morocco in the cooking of their
favourite locusts.
Here it is.
" Having plucked off their heads,
legs, and wings, sprinkle them with
pepper
and
salt
and
chopped
parsley, fry in butter, and add some

vinegar." He found them excellent.
From personal experiment I can
fully endorse his opinion ; and there
are few who would not, if they
E
49
would
would but try this dish.
I have
eaten them raw, and I have eaten

them cooked. Raw, they are plea
sant to the taste ; cooked, they are
delicious.
The
above
recipe
is
simple ; but any one with a know

ledge
of
cookery
would
know
how to improve upon it, produc

ing from this source such dishes,
say, as " Grasshoppers au gratin,"
or "Acridai sautes a la Maitre
d'Hotel."
Among the Coleoptera, or Beetles,
we find many which might well
serve as food ; some in their larval,
some in their complete state, and
some in both.
Here, again, there
is no need to recruit from among

the ranks of the carnivorous or foul
50
feeders
feeders.
There are, without those,
plenty of strict vegetarians.

The grub of the Stag Beetle
(Lucanus cervus) is said by many,
as before mentioned, to be identical
with the Cossus, which the Romans
used to fatten for the table upon
flour and wine.
As this destructive
grub, before turning to its beetle

stage of life, spends some years
gnawing at the hearts of our oak
trees, it would be a boon to timber
growers if this taste of the Romans
were revived.
There are many
varieties
of
these
timber-borers
which might well be used for food,

as are the Grugru and the Moutac
grub in the East and West Indies.
I have especially noticed a plump
51
white
white grub which infests our young

sallow
trees
in
great
numbers,
boring upwards from the foot of

the stem.
are
cut
When the plantations

down,
why should
delicacy be wasted ?
this
If foolishly
rejected at the tables of the rich,

these larvae should be a joy to the
woodman's family, and a reward
for the toil of the breadwinner. If
this were so, it would be the means
of keeping down the number of
these destructive pests, which are
not now considered worth col
lecting.
What valid objection can there
be to eating these insects, when the
larvae of similar beetles are eaten
all over the world, both by natives
52
and
and
by
whites, and
when
such
larvae are unanimously pronounced

to be wholesome and palatable ?
The Meal-worm, the larva of a
small beetle (Tenebrio), is generally
looked upon with disgust, as only
fit food for tame birds. Even the
strong-stomached and hungry sailor
will rap his sea-biscuit on the table
to shake out the worms before eating
it.
Let him shake out the worms,
by all means ; but let him collect

them, fry in lard, and spread the
dainty upon his dry biscuit. He
will not again throw Meal-worms
away.
In the common Cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris) we find an invete
rate enemy, which, after spending
53
three
three years in gnawing the roots of

our clover and grasses as a huge
white grub, turns to its beetle state,
only to continue its ravages upon
the foliage of our fruit or forest
trees. Literally tooth and nail we
ought to battle with this enemy, for
in both its stages it is a most dainty
morsel for the table.
The birds are
more sensible than we.
They know
well the value of the fat chafer as

food.
With what joy the jaunty
rooks, following the plough with

long strides over the upturned
clover lea, pounce upon the luscious
grubs ! What a feast the birds
have among the swarms of chafers
in the tall tree-tops !
Erasmus Darwin, in his " Phyto54
logia,"
logia," says : " I have observed the

house sparrow destroy the Maychafer, eating out the central part
of it, and am told that turkeys and
rooks do the same ; which I thence
conclude might be grateful food, if
properly cooked, as the locusts or
termites of the East. And prob
ably the large grub, or larva of it,
which the rooks pick up in following
the plough, is as delicious as the
grub called Grugru, and a large
caterpillar which feeds on the palm,
both of which are roasted and eaten
in the West Indies."
Here is the
openly expressed opinion
of one
of our greatest philosophers and

deepest thinkers ; and there is not
the slightest doubt that it is correct.
55
Again
Again I endorse from personal

experience.
Try them, as I have ;
they are delicious.
Cockchafers are
not only common, but of a most

serviceable
while
size
and
plumpness,
their grubs are, when full
grown, at least two inches in length,

and fat in proportion.
What
godsend
to
house
keepers to discover a new entree to

vary the monotony of the present
round !
Why
should
invention,
which makes such gigantic strides

in other directions, stand still in
cookery ? Here then, mistresses,
who thirst to place new and dainty
dishes before
your
guests,
what
better could you have than "Cur

ried Maychafers"or, if you want
56
a more mysterious title, " Larvae

Melolonthae a. la Grugru " ? Land
owning guests ought to welcome
the opportunity of retaliating,
at
your table, under the " lex talionis,"

upon this, one of the worst of their
insect tormentors. Another dish,
which should take with the farmer,
would be " Fried Chafers with
Wireworm sauce."
Perhaps, how
ever, the little word "worm" might

be objected to.
So let us pander to
the refined senses of the delicately

fastidious by writing it upon our
menu as " Fried Melolonthae with
Elater sauce."
I know that wire-
worms are an excellent substitute

for shrimps. There are, also, thou
sands
of members
57
of the same
family
family as the shrimp (Crustaceans)

in every garden, namely, the com
mon Wood-lice (Oniscus muriarius).
I have eaten these, and found that,
when chewed, a flavour is developed
remarkably akin to that so much
appreciated in
their sea cousins.
Wood-louse sauce is equal, if not

distinctly superior to, shrimp.
The following is the recipe : Col
lect a quantity of the finest woodlice to be found (no difficult task,
as they swarm under the bark of
every rotten tree), and drop them
into boiling water, which will kill
them instantly, but not turn them
red, as might be expected.
At the
same time put into a saucepan a

quarter of a pound of fresh butter,
58
a
a teaspoonful of flour, a small glass

of water, a little milk, some pepper
and salt, and place it on the stove.
As soon as the sauce is thick, take it
off" and put in the wood-lice.
is an excellent sauce for fish.
This
Try
it.
Passing on to the order Hymenoptera, the Sawfly at once strikes
us as a very familiar insect, which
in its larval stage plays sad havoc
among the gooseberry bushes, often
stripping them bare of leaves, and
thus spoiling all chance of fruit.
We all know in what myriads the
grub swarms upon the trees, and
how hard it is to induce our gar
dener, or any one else, to take timely
steps for its destruction.
59
If it were
known
known to be nice to eat, there would

be little fear of this voracious feeder
carrying on its destruction uninter
rupted.
It would be a race between
the cook and the gardener's wife,

who should first arrive at the poor
gooseberry bush.
There is also
the Turnip Sawfly, better known

to farmers as "the Black," which
sometimes devours whole fields of
roots, leaving not a leaf to be seen.
In this order are
and Wasps.
included
Bees
From the former we
already derive a delicious sweet in

the form of golden honey. From
the latter we might, if we chose,
derive an equally delicious savoury.
What disciple of old Izaak Walton,
when he has been all the morning
60
enticing
enticing the wily trout with luscious

wasp grubs baked to a turn, has not
suspected a new and appetizing taste
imparted to his midday meal of bread
and cheese or sandwich ?
Perhaps
his own meal has travelled to the

scene of action in the same basket
as the rich cakes of grubs ; or it
may be that the fish are biting too
well to allow time for a thorough
hand-washing, and rapid bites are
taken from the lunch in the intervals
between the bobbing of the float and
the replacing of the nibbled grubs.
At any rate, it will, sometimes, so
happen to every fisherman to get
the taste and smell of cooked wasp
grubs with his meal, and I have
never noticed that it in any way
61
spoilt
spoilt his appetite.
Attracted by
the said taste and smell, and having

no prejudices against insect food, I
have myself spread the baked grubs
upon my bread, and found their ex
cellent flavour quite sufficient
account for the
to
fondness of the
trout for this particular bait.
will admit that wasps are occasion

ally carnivorous, but it is the excep
tion and not the rule. Moreover,
the saccharine fluid with which they
feed their infant grubs is, I believe,
entirely composed of vegetable
juices, drawn from ripe fruits and
flowers.
Their babes, like our
own, are fed only upon what are
called " spoon victuals."
Let us,
then, welcome among our new
62
insect
insect dishes "Wasp grubs baked

in the comb." The number of
wasps' nests taken and destroyed,
in a prolific season, is something
extraordinary.
have known as
many as sixteen or twenty nests to

be taken by a gardener within a
very short radius round his house.
What a waste of good wholesome
food takes place then, when cake
after cake, loaded with fat grubs, is
stamped under foot !
The next
order, the Lepidoptera (butterflies
and moths), is rich in material for
practical experiment and demon
stration of my theory of insect
food for omnivorous man.
The
usual
stock terms for insects,
"hideous," "loathsome," etc., can
63
not
not be applied with any justice to

this class, which, in its perfect state
is renowned for its elegant beauty,
and in its larval or caterpillar state
is
almost
invariably
pleasingly
coloured and by no means repulsive

to the eye. Their diet, too, is of
the most purely vegetarian descrip
tion, consisting, as it does, in the
first stage of leaves, and the sweet
nectar of flowers
in the second.
The tiny ant knows and appreciates

the sweetness of insects which feed
upon the juices of plants or flowers,
for it keeps and tends with care
numerous milch herds of aphides
or green flies, to coax from their
plump bodies the pearly drops of
the honey dew it loves so well.
64
We
We have always been taught that

in many points the ant is to be
imitated.
In its just appreciation
of insects as a sweet source of food
it is to be imitated too.
I think it
is in " Swiss Family Robinson "

that there is a clever account of
some travellers, wandering at night
through a forest by torchlight, being
greatly annoyed by huge moths,
which repeatedly extinguished the
torches by their suicidal love of
light.
However, annoyance was
turned to joy when, tempted by
the appetizing smell of the toasted
moths, the hungry travellers ven
tured to satisfy in part their hunger
with the suicides, which they found
as excellent in flavour as in smell.
f
65
From
From what I recollect of the tale,

I believe this was quite a fancy
description,
probably founded on
the real habits of the natives which

had been observed by the travelled
author of the book. I well remem
ber that, on reading that account,
my
youthful
imagination
repro
duced without effort the appetizing

smell of a plump baked moth ; but
it did not occur to me then to try
such a tid-bit.
Lately, however, I
have done so, to find the dream of

my childhood fully realized as to the
delights, both in taste and smell, of
a fat moth nicely baked.
ye epicures !
Try them,
What possible argu
ment can be advanced against eating

a creature beautiful without
66
and
sweet
sweet within ; a creature nourished

on nectar, the fabled food of the
gods ?
In attempting to reconcile the
popular taste to the consumption of
this same order in its larval stage
as " caterpillars," a more difficult
task perhaps awaits me.
I never could
But why?
thoroughly under
stand the intense disgust with which

the appearance at the dinner-table
of a well -boiled
caterpillar, acci
dentally served with

always
greeted.
The
cabbage, is
feeling is
purely one of habit, and the out

come of unjust prejudice.
These
delicate, shuddering people, who

now, with appetites gone, push
away their plates upon the appear67
ance
ance of a well-cooked vegetablefed caterpillar, have probably just

swallowed a dozen live oysters ; or
they may have partaken of the foulfeeding lobster, and are perhaps
pleasantly anticipating the arrival
of a dish of ungutted woodcock !
I have pointed out before that we
have Dr. Darwin's authority that
the caterpillars of the sphinx moths,
as eaten by the Chinese, are very
palatable ;
and
another
traveller
has told us that he found the cater

pillars eaten by the Hottentots
tasted like almond paste.
Of
course, in choosing caterpillars for
eating, it is necessary to discrimi
nate between those feeding on poi
sonous and non-poisonous plants ;
68
but
but there is no more difficulty in

this than in distinguishing between
the edible and poisonous in berries
or fungi.
The caterpillar pests swarming
in our kitchen gardens, which might
with advantage be collected for
food, are really too numerous to be
fully described
here, but
point out a few of the best ;
will
at
the same time calling attention to

the fact that they all feed upon the
wholesome
vegetables
which we
cultivate for our own eating.
To
begin, the large white cabbage

butterfly (Pontia brassicce) is one
of our most familiar butterflies. Its
caterpillar, when full-grown, is one
and a half inches in length, and,
69
owing
owing to its
unpleasant habit of
living upon his cabbages, of which

it usually leaves nothing but skele
ton leaves, is too well known to
every gardener.
It is of a greenish
colour upon the back, yellow under

neath, striped with yellow along the
back and sides, spotted
all over
with black, and covered more or

less with tiny hairs. Miss Eleanor
Ormerod * says, with reference to
these
pests,
" Hand-picking
caterpillars is a
tedious
the
remedy,
but where there is no great extent

of ground, it is advisable as a cer
tain cure."
This effectual remedy would no
longer be looked upon as tedious
* "Manual of Injurious Insects."
70
if
if the fruits of the picking were

to form a dish for the gardener's
dinner, or appear in the menu of
his mistress as "Larva? Pontiae a
l'Hottentot."
Again
she
says,
"When the first brood of cater

pillars are full-grown, and have dis
appeared from the cabbages in
early summer, they have left them
to turn to chrysalids in any shel
tered nook near, and may be col
lected in large numbers by children
for a trifle per
hundred.
They
may be chiefly found in outhouses,

potting-sheds, and the like places,
in every neglected
corner, under
rough stairs, step-ladders, or beams

or shelves, or fastened against rough
stone
walls
or
71
mortar."
Why
should
should we not imitate the Chinese,

who, as I have stated, eat the chrysalids of silkworms ?
Silkworms feed on the mulberry,
lettuce, etc. ; these caterpillars upon
the homely cabbage.
Let us, then,
cast aside our foolish prejudice, and

delight in chrysalids fried in butter,
with yolk of eggs and seasoning,
or " Chrysalids a la Chinoise."
The
foregoing
remarks
apply
equally to the small white cabbage

butterfly
(Pontia
rapce),
whose
caterpillars are smaller, of a green

colour, and velvety, having a stripe
of yellow along the back, and spots
of the same colour along the sides.
Sticking still to cabbage, we next
have the' cabbage moth (Mamestra
72
brassicce),
brassicce), whose caterpillar is per

haps more generally known as a
forward intruder at table than any
other.
The larva is about an inch
and a half in length, varies a great

deal in colour, from dirty flesh to
green, and is smooth and nakedlooking.
Its constant habit of
gnawing right down into the heart
of any cabbage or cauliflower at
tacked renders it a great nuisance
in the garden, and also accounts for
its frequent, and at present unin
vited, appearance in a boiled state
at the dinner-table.
It was the accident of his house
and pigstye
being burnt
to the
ground that first introduced the

flavour of the luscious, but unclean,
73
pig
pig to the celestial Chinamen. Let

these minor accidental appearances
at table make us acquainted with
the flavour of the clean and whole
some caterpillar, and let not the
silent appeal be in vain of these
martyrs, who invite us to profit by
their martyrdom.
Let us not, with
a shudder, hide
the evidence of
their sacrifice under a temporary

shroud of vegetable, but rather let
us welcome these pioneers of future
delicacies with
smiles
and
open
arms.
Continuing the list, I will next
mention the large yellow underwing
moth, whose caterpillar feeds upon
turnip and cabbage leaves.
The
moth itself is a very familiar sight,
74
its
its size and yellow underwings ren

dering it a conspicuous object when,
disturbed from its day retreat, it
rises with sluggish flight before us.
In seasons when this moth is
numerous great numbers might be
caught, both in the daytime and at
night, with the net and by sugaring
trees as practised by moth-collectors.
When nicely fried in butter, their
plump bodies rival the torch-cooked
delicacies of
the
traveller's
tale.
Again, there is the common Buff-tip,

a handsome moth, with forewings of
a beautiful grey colour, marked with
ruddy and black patches, and tipped,
as its name imports, with light buff.
It is handsome. What is more, let
me whisper the ogreish suggestion
75
that
that its body, an inch in length, is

plump, round, and sweet.
Its cater
pillars are well known to every one,

whether Londoner or countryman,
for they swarm, at the end of June,
in town and country alike upon their
favourite lime trees.
Their yellow
forms, striped and ringed with black,
are often to be seen crawling across
the arid desert of the London pave
ments in search of some congenial
soil wherein they bury themselves
for the term of insect purgatory.
Looking up then at the tree
from which these wanderers have
descended, one may see branches,
perhaps many, perhaps few, stripped
of their foliage and down the stem
other caterpillars hurriedly crawling,
76
knowing
knowing that their time has come ;

that nature calls them to throw off
their
gay garments
and
humble
themselves beneath the soil, before

bursting out into rollicking Buff-tips.
It never strikes the Londoner, as
he hurries along beneath the shady
trees, that these caterpillars are good
to eat.
He either stamps upon or
carefully avoids them, according to
his nature.
The street boy picks
up, plays with, and finally squashes

them ; but the extraordinary part
of it is that it never strikes him to
taste
them.
everything.
Boys
But
taste
this
almost
prejudice
against insects seems rooted in

them from the earliest age, for I
have never seen a child experiment
77
upon
upon the unknown sweets of insect

food.
These
swarm upon
numbers, in
Buff-tip caterpillars
the trees
favourable
in such
seasons,
that many a dish can be obtained

with a little trouble, which is amply
repaid not only by their flavour,
but also by the saving of the tender
foliage of the limes.
Most of the
commoner moths which flit in

thousands by night, around our
fields and gardens, have nice fat
carcases, and ought certainly to be
used as food.
Why, they are the
very incarnescence of sweetness,

beauty, and deliciousness ; living
storehouses of nectar gathered from
the most fragrant flowers !
too, voluntarily
and
78
They,
suggestively
sacrifice
sacrifice themselves upon the altar of

our lamps, as we sit, with open win
dows, in the balmy summer nights.
They fry and grill themselves be
fore our eyes, saying, " Does not
the sweet scent of our cooked bodies
tempt you ? Fry us with butter ;
we are delicious.
Boil us, grill us,
stew us ; we are good all ways ! "
I will now pass on to our British
land mollusks, beginning with the
snail, of which it has
been said,
<( As the fisherman hates

otter, so does the gardener
voracious, destructive pest."
the
this
Ana
thematized by every person who

possesses
the
smallest
patch
of
garden ; lying in abundance around

our
feet, a wholesome
79
food, and
at
at the
same time a pest to
destroyed,
they
are
still
be
almost
entirely neglected by rich and poor

alike, though the rich long for new
dishes to tempt their jaded palates,
and the poor starve.
This is the
more extraordinary when it is con

sidered how fond the whole nation
is of such mollusks as it is in the
habit of eating.
are
no
To the rich there
greater
oysters, while
the
delicacies
than
poor consume
incredible quantities of the cheaper

mollusks, such as cockles, whelks,
etc.
One has only to walk down
the streets of any poor quarter of

London to realize the immense trade
which is
clone by the numerous
costermongers, whose barrows are

80
laden
laden with little plates of readycooked mollusks, of many varieties.

Yet
in
the
country
the
poorer
labourers and their families go on

week
after week, attempting
to
keep body and soul together with

nothing but bread, varied, if pos
sible, by the addition of a taste of
bacon, while hundreds of nutritious
and wholesome snails and slugs
swarm at night upon the little cot
tage garden.
Why this wanton and
reckless waste of food ?

foolish prejudice !
Prejudice,
Half the poor
of England would actually die of

starvation before stretching out their
hands to gather the plentiful mollus
cous food which their neighbours in
France delight in.
G
81
There are many

cases
cases I have known several myself

where the poor will gather snails
and small slugs, and swallow them
raw, as a remedy for cough or weak
chest ; yet it never seems to strike
them that this strengthening medi
cine is quite plentiful enough to
serve as a pleasant and strengthen
ing food.
right to
As a medicine, they are

eat their mollusks raw,
because snails and slugs, like all

their
class, consist principally of
albumen which when raw is easily

digested.
Of course the rich can afford to
please themselves and reject a
pleasant, wholesome food if they
choose ; but it seems a sin that our
starving poor should continue to
82
neglect
neglect this abundant food-supply.

Something could be done by force
of example.
Masters might prepare
savoury snail dishes, according to

the recipes used in all parts of the
Continent, and in course of time the
servants would follow suit.
One
great stumbling-block in the way is
the generally prevailing idea that
there is only one species, the edible
snail (Helix pomatid), which is fit
for food, or used as such upon the
Continent. It cannot be too widely
known that this is quite a mistake.
The only superiority of the socalled edible snail over its fellows
is its superior size. The fact of its
superiority in size recommended it
to the Romans as the best species
83
to
Why not eat Insects t
to cultivate for the table ; the fact

of it having been so favoured and
cultivated above
its
fellows
has
given rise to its name, and to the

false idea that none other is edible.
This Helix pomatia is by no means
common in England, but is found
in Kent, Surrey, and other southern
counties, where it is supposed by
many to have been imported by the
invading Romans.
The common garden snail (Helix
aspersd), as well as many other
smaller kinds, is eaten in France
and everywhere else where snails
find favour.
The real fact is that all our species
of snails are edible, unless they are
gathered fresh from feeding upon
84
some
Insects t/iat are Good to Eat.
some poisonous plant.
To avoid
this danger, it is usual either to

starve the snails or to feed them
upon wholesome herbs
for some
days previous to preparing them

for the table. The Romans, we
read, used to fatten their snails
upon meal and new wine until they
attained
an
enormous
excellent flavour.
size
and
At the present
day in Italy, they are sometimes

kept in bran for some time before
being eaten.
In many places upon
the Continent there may be seen

snail-preserves, or escargotieres, con
sisting of odd corners of gardens
enclosed with boards and netted
over the top.
In these enclosures
hundreds of snails are kept and fed
85
upon
upon
wholesome
vegetables
and
such herbs as impart to their con

sumers
an
agreeable flavour.
should like to see a simply con

structed
snail-preserve
in
every
cottage garden in England. Further

information on the subject will be
found in an excellent work, " Edible
British
Mollusks,"
by G.
M. S.
Lovell, from which I take the

following recipes, the excellency of
which I can personally vouch for.
i. To dress snails.Snails that
feed on vines are considered the
best.
Put some water into a
saucepan, and when it begins to boil
throw in the snails and let them
boil a quarter of an hour ; then take
them out of their shells, wash them
86
several
several times, taking great pains to

cleanse them thoroughly, place them
in clean water, and boil them again
for a quarter of an hour.
Then take
them out, rinse them and dry them,

and place them with a little butter
in a frying-pan, and fry them gently
for a few minutes sufficient to brown
them ; then serve with some piquante
sauce.
2. Snails cooked in the French
way.Crack the shells and throw
them into boiling water, with a little
salt and herbs, sufficient to make
the whole savoury.
In a quarter of
an hour take them out, pick the

snails from the shells, and boil them
again ; then put them into a sauce
pan, with butter, parsley, pepper,
87
thyme,
thyme, a bay-leaf and a little flour.

When sufficiently done, add the yolk
of an egg well beaten, and the juice
of a lemon or some vinegar.
Now, don't you think those
recipes sound nice ? I have eaten
snails raw, and I have eaten them
cooked.
Raw, they are nourish
ing, but almost flavourless ; nicely
cooked, they are excellent. It is
of no use for me to attempt to
describe their delicate taste.
Try
them for yourselves, and judge.

We do not find many instances
of slugs being generally eaten, unless
as a remedy for lung diseases ; but
I fail to see why, seeing how nearly
they are allied to snails, they should
be so generally neglected.
88
I have
known
known two gardeners who were in

the constant habit of picking up
and swallowing any small
slugs they happened to see.
grey
One
gave as his reason for so doing,

that he thought his chest was
weak ; the other, that he liked
them : both honest enough reasons.
The poor might make most nutri
tious soup and palatable dishes from
the common varieties of slug, which,
left to themselves, do so much
damage to farm and garden crops.
The
great
grey
slug
(Limax
maximus), the red slug (Limax

rufus), the black slug (Limax ater),
and the small grey
slug are all
to be found in great numbers in

most parts of England, and when
89
properly
properly
cooked
are
all
equally
good. People who walk the fields

and gardens in the daytime wonder
at the immense havoc played by
slugs, of which they see so com
paratively few.
Let them, how
ever, go out at nightfall, with a

good bull's-eye lantern, and they
will see, advancing upon their crops
from rubbish heaps, from hollow
trees, from crevices in walls, and
from
every
conceivable
hiding-
place, hosts of slugs, grey, black,

red, large and small.
Why should
not these be gathered in hundreds

and thousands by the poor for
food ?
The larger varieties might
be treated like the Chinese deli

cacies, the sea-slugs, cut open and
90
dried
Insects tJiat are Good to Eat.
dried for keeping.
Slugs may be
secured without the trouble of a

night attack, by placing garden
refuse or cabbage leaves under the
shelter
of boards
these traps
in the night
themselves
breaks, will
caught,
or
tiles.
To
the slugs will come

to feed, and, finding
sheltered when day
remain there to be
instead
of
returning
to
their usual strongholds.

Let not the labourer say, " We
starve.
Meat is too dear ; bread
is almost as dear because the wireworm, the leather-jacket, and the

May-bug worm have thinned the
crop ; our little stock of flour is
rendered useless by meal-worms.
The caterpillars swarm upon our
91.
cabbages
cabbages ; the sawfly has spoilt all

chance of the gooseberries we
hoped to sell : hosts of great slugs
and snails have devoured what the
others left.
Upon our fruit trees
the cockchafers are gnawing the

leaves to bareness."
Yes, meat is dear ;
but
the
wheat crop would have been twice

as
thick
if
the
leather-jackets,
wireworms,
and
the
the
luscious
white chafer grubs had been dili

gently collected by you for food.
Meal-worms are fattening.
You
should have hand-picked your cab
bages and gooseberry trees, so that
you might enjoy and profit by their
would-be destroyers.
The
snails
and slugs ought to be welcome, and

92
sought
sought for, to be placed in your

little snail-preserve.
As for cock
chafers, you ought to get sixpence

a score for them from the squire's
housekeeper.
They are, like mush
rooms, to be gathered and sold as

delicacies ; or you could fry them
for your own suppers, before they
have a chance of baring your poor
fruit trees.
Thus you would not
only save all the produce of the

little garden, but also pleasantly
vary your monotonous meal with
wholesome and savoury dishes.
Nature, if undisturbed, balances
all her creatures against each other
so that no one individual kind shall,
increase and multiply to an undue
extent.
This principle has been
93
summed
summed up in the quaint lines

" Big fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite 'em ;
Little fleas have smaller fleas,
And so on, ad infinitum."
When not interfered with, Nature's
whole machinery works with per
fect regularity, and her balance is
exactly poised.
If, however, we
presume to intermeddle, the whole

system soon becomes deranged.
By importing or cultivating fancy
fruits unnatural to the soil, we have
interfered with the machinery ; by
killing the birds to protect these
fancy fruits, we destroy Nature's
balance of her creaturesfor birds
are
the
insects.
natural
counterpoise
to
In consequence we have,
94
to
to the great detriment of our crops,

an overweight and undue increase
of insects.
To save them from
their devourers, we must throw

some extra weight into the opposite
scale to compensate for the loss of
the birds we kill. I have done my
best to show how this weight may
be added, and how the balance may
be restored.
On the following pages I have
sketched out two mentis, comprising
some specimen dishes which may be
made from insects.
Of course these
menus are unnaturally crowded with

insect items ; but they are merely
intended to show how such dishes
may be usefully introduced into the
chief courses of an ordinary dinner.
95
I.
I.
FRENCH.
Menu.
Potage aux Limaces a. la Chinoise.
Morue bouillie a l'Anglaise, Sauce
aux Limagons.
Larves de Guepes frites au Rayon.
Phalenes a 1' Hottentot.
Bceuf aux Chenilles.
Petites Carottes, Sauce blanche aux
Rougets.
Creme de Groseilles aux Nemates.
Larves de Hanneton Grill6es.
Cerfs Volants a. la Gru Gru.
96
I.
I.
ENGLISH.
Menu.
Slug Soup.
Boiled Cod with Snail Sauce.
Wasp Gru bs fried in the Comb.

Moths sautes in Butter.
Braized Beef with Caterpillars.
New Carrots with Wireworm Sauce.
Gooseberry Cream with Sawflies.

Devilled Chafer Grubs.
Stag Beetle Larvae on Toast.
h
97
II-
II.
FRENCH.
Menu.
Potage aux Limacons a la Francaise.
Soles frites, Sauce aux Cloportes.
Hannetons a la Sauterelle des Indes.
Fricassee de Poulets aux Chrysa
lides.
Carre de Mouton, Sauce aux Rougets.
Canetons aux Petits Pois.
Choufleurs garnies de Chenilles.
Phalenes au Parmesan.
98
II.
II.
ENGLISH.
Menu.
Snail Soup.
Fried soles, with Woodlouse Sauce.
Curried Cockchafers.
Fricassee of Chicken with Chrysalids.
Boiled Neck of Mutton with Wireworm Sauce.

Ducklings, with Green Peas.
Cauliflowers garnished with Cater
pillars.
Moths on Toast.
99
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WHY NOT EAT INSECTS?

Simpkin, Marshall 6 Co. ; Hamilton, Adams c*> Co.

FIELD & TVER,

In entering upon this work I

long-existing and deep-rooted

of my readers a fair hearing,

granted, I feel sure that many

There are insects and

vegetable feeders, clean, palat

never condescend to eat us, I

Why not? ...

Insects that are Good to Eat,

WHY NOT EAT INSECTS ?

" insects "

Why not eat Insects ?

under the head of insects, still may

much less eat one ! " is the reply.

which, as a matter of fact, are not

found in that of the higher animals.

of the commonest criterions as to

entirely upon vegetable matter in

Why not eat Insects f

can any one who has ever gulped

Again, the eel is universally eaten,

fried, stewed, or in pies, though it

fellow-scavenger the pig, the " un

What would the

poor do without the bacon-pig now ?

Why not eat Insects f

treated dish of locusts is by an

many reasons why this is to be

Secondly, what a pleasant

change from the labourer's unvary

" How the poor

live ! " Badly, I know ; but they

constant questions of the day is,

How can the farmer most success

vourers of his crops ?

wholesomely vary their present diet

Why not eat Insects ?

After all, there is not such a very

districts of such oldmedicines as wood-lice

pills, and snails and slugs as a cure

good of the advanced state of the

small fly, are freely eaten by many

fully as good as his.

Why not eat Insects 9

As a matter of fact, I see every

thus served up, surrounded with

caterpillar which, having

the careful eye of the scullery-maid,

form is carefully hidden at the side

same diners have, at the commence18

ment of the meal, hailed with inward

thus gets the well-boiled

larva served up in its own natural,

I am quite aware of the

horror with which this opinion will

Why not eat Insects ?

of correct reasoning can deny its

their being no longer familiar as

At one time the fact